[Peace-discuss] AWARE's mission

[carol inskeep]

AWARE, the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort, works to oppose aggressive wars and to end racism. Our concerns also include the militarization of society, inequalities of wealth and opportunity, the concentration and uniformity of news sources, the global extension of American power, the demise of internationally agreed norms of behavior, the threat of corporate globalization to the common welfare, and the erosion of civil liberties. We come together to coordinate our efforts individually and with other organizations to share resources and ideas and to make large scale actions possible as we work towards peace and justice. 
 
 
This is the statement we use on our website and in our Public Service Announcements on WEFT to describe the very wide-ranging issues that we have addressed.  Many times we co-sponsor events or work on issues that might not at first seem directly related to our anti-war, anti-racism stand; our efforts to protest the proposal for the Champaign police to get tasers is a recent example.  Some of these stands are controversial - our co-sponsorship of anti-chief events, for example - but participating members of AWARE hash it out, and if we feel strongly that it is a peace and justice issue, we generally support it.  Our stand on tasers, and our involvement with that issue, has, I believe, helped us build bridges with the African American community.  So of course, there are pros and cons to taking these stands.  Some people are alienated because they disagree with us, but others feel we are standing by them on issues that really count, and it makes them more receptive to our anti-war
 message.
 
Of course people who say they are anti-war and anti-racist have many different ideas what that means.  And AWARE is a very open, loose group.  The folks who post on the listserve, who come to meetings, who write the literature and who do the work to organize and show up at events determine what we are.    
 
I personally am glad we voted unanimously last week to co-sponsor the Emergency Contraception rally - and the posts this week have strengthened my belief that it was the right thing to do.  
 
cpi

		
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